Is John Swallow's attorneys flipping off the House a good idea?
I think you would have a difficult time finding very many in the #utleg
that would believe that the court gets to determine the definition of
"high crimes, misdemeanors, or malfeasance in office;" for the Utah
State Legislature in cases of impeachment. That is the garbage the
letters from Swallows attorneys have tried to make and that is the
reaction, in my opinion of some in the Utah Leg.
It is like
kicking a hornets nest. The Supreme Court gets to toss out laws that
they determine are not constitutional, but they do not get to define
what the legislature interprets the constitution to mean that they swear
to uphold. No where in their oath of office do they swear to defend the
law or defend case law. They write the law and they get to interpret
the constitution for their oath of office and defined powers themselves.
John
Fellows's job includes putting constitutional notes to let them know
about possible case laws and whether or not it could effect the law in
the future. John Fellows advices the #utleg. They get to make up their
own mind.
"As required by legislative rule and practice, the
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel provides the
following legislative review note to assist the Legislature in making
its own determination as to the constitutionality of the bill. The note
is based on an analysis of relevant state and federal constitutional law
as applied to the bill. The note is not written for the purpose of
influencing whether the bill should become law, but is written to
provide information relevant to legislators' consideration of this bill.
The note is not a substitute for the judgment of the judiciary, which
has authority to determine the constitutionality of a law in the context
of a specific case."
If the legislature doesn't agree with the
opinion of either the US or State Supreme Court as to how far the 4th
amendment can be amended, the legislature can and has held it to a
higher standard and the court has agreed the #utleg has that authority
and the state AG (Shurtleff at the time) can toss a fit but it doesn't
matter.
Again, the Utah Supreme Court doesn't get to determine
the definition of "high crimes, misdemeanors, or malfeasance in office;"
for the Utah State Legislature in cases of impeachment", in my opinion
and I am not alone in that opinion. It would be a conflict of interest
as the legislature has the duty to impeach the justices if there was
reason to do so.
The last case of an impeachment process by the #utleg was a judge.
re:
the balance of power between 3 branches of government and 2 levels of
government. You forget that the Utah House has seated Reps when the
courts wouldn't have and yet it did and the courts wouldn't interfere.
#utleg "do solemnly swear that I will support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity."
There is nothing that says they would swear to support, obey and defend Case Law, or any existing laws.
You
tell a member of the house they aren't following their oath of office
and I can think a few that would just a soon punch you in the mouth.
"Thems fighting words". Gov. Herbert has made that mistake a few times
and saw his veto overridden.
